Grindin’ & 40 Days Touring are pleased to announce the first solo tour in New Zealand for one of Hip Hop’s most lyrical MC’s live and direct from Detroit, Elzhi.
Elzhi made his international debut on “Come and Get It,” a stand out song from Jay Dee’s (J Dilla) debut album, “Welcome 2 Detroit”. The widespread praise for the track led to Elzhi joining the group Slum Village in 2002. The albums that Elzhi recorded as a member of the group (“Trinity”, “Detroit Deli” and “Slum Village”) have sold more than 600,000 copies and established Slum Village as one of the most respected Hip Hop groups in the world.
In mid 2011 Elzhi released his eagerly anticipated mixtape, “Elmatic”, a homage to Nas’ widely praised debut “Illmatic”. With his positive image and undeniable talent, Elzhi is considered to be one of the greatest emcees in the world. As he moves forward, Elzhi will continue to build on his strong, international fan base.
Download “Elmatic” for free from www.elzhi.com
TOUR DATES:
Wednesday 7th September – San Francisco Bath House, Wellington | Buy Tickets
Thursday 8th September – Fu Bar, Auckland | Buy Tickets
Tour support announced 2nd of August. Tickets available now from www.undertheradar.co.nz
After a sell out tour of Europe, Kiwi Drum & Bass pioneers State of Mind finally return home and have announced an eight-date tour of NZ in support of the release of their new album Nil By Ear.
Throughout the month of July the SOM lads are heading out across the country, joined by Dutch album collaborator DJ Nymfo (aka Bardo Camp) and rising mc star MC Woody (aka Andrew Woodcock).
Nil by Ear is State of Mind‘s third studio album. After being released in April 2011, the album went on to debut in the NZ Top 20 album chart and spawned a string of hit singles including collaborations with PNC, Thomas Oliver, Sacha Vee, and P.Digsss from Shapeshifter.
Be sure to catch State Of Mind when they hit a town near you. Tickets from iticket or local outlets.
Friday 15th July – Flow Bar, Hamilton
Saturday 16th July – Zen, Auckland with Loadstar
Friday 22nd July – Illuminati, Tauranga
Saturday 23rd July – Sandwiches, Wellington
Thursday 28th July – Subculture, Queenstown
Friday 29th July – Urban Factory, Dunedin
Saturday 30th July – The Venue – Musicbar, Christchurch
Friday 6th August – Salut, Whangarei
Check facebook/stateofmindnz for info
Swiss born, Kiwi singer-songwriter Nadine Loren is set to release her sophomore album on July 4th.
The album features 11 covers of classic songs from the 80’s as well as two original tracks written by Loren herself.
Naked ‘80’s celebrates some of the decade’s best songs, but gives them a modern twist, completely stripping them of all their synthesized elements. The bare songs are then reinvented to have a fresh sound with all real instrumentation. What makes these remakes even more unique is that many are hauntingly infused with opera – it’s a must listen.
Naked ‘80’s is produced by the legendary hit-maker Peter Asher who has produced 12 Grammy
Award Winning albums and has twice been voted “Producer of the Year” by the Grammy’s. Peter was the Head of A&R for the Beatles’ Apple label and former VP of Music Entertainment at Sony.
Nadine Loren does not fit snugly into any box. Her debut album Living In Wonderland was nominated for Pop Album Of The Year at the 2009 L.A Music Awards, and the trained opera singer, accomplished pop vocalist, pianist and guitarist is also a former lawyer and actress. Loren straddles these many multiplicities while infusing her music with elements of opera, pop, rock, jazz and country on Naked ‘80’s. The album pays homage to her favorite tunes of the decade, tunes that left an impression on Loren as a young girl.
Now based in Los Angeles, Loren does extensive touring in the US, as well as shows in New Zealand and Australia. In her (limited) downtime Loren is committed to making a difference and helping others. She sits on the board of Glamour Gals, is involved with the Make A Wish Foundation (NYC), the Lu Parker Project and The Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis as well as APLA with their annual Art Project Los Angeles.
Check out the stunning new video for BLOODSTONE – From Tiki Taanes #1 album “In The World Of Light” available now! Click here to buy on iTunes
Apanui (aka Ngahiwi Apanui) is set to release his fouth studio album Matariki on May 30th. The 11 track release has been recorded fully in Te Reo Māori.
Matariki is an expression of Apanui’s bicultural musical heritage and features many themes, including Te Reo Māori (the Māori language), whānau (family), the environment, unity, death and peace. Each theme has a traditional and a contemporary interpretation. Six songs that feature on Matariki are performed as song poetry – five of which are originals composed by Apanui.
A fluent speaker of Te Reo Māori, Apanui is a proud advocate of the Māori language. “Te Reo Māori is a part of who I am and I want to share it with the rest of the country,” he says. It’s this concern that underpins the title track ‘Matariki’ where he makes a passionate plea to the people of New Zealand to come together to learn and celebrate “New Zealand’s indigenous language.”
Apanui’s first solo album, Te Hono ki te Kāinga (the link with the homeland),was well received in 1990 and he was awarded a Tui in 2003 for album E Tau Nei (the best Māori Language Album) and the APRA Maioha Award in the same year for ‘Whārikihia’, one of the songs from the album.
Apanui was a founding member, composer and leader of what many regard as the first Kaupapa Māori reggae band, Aotearoa. The band nurtured a new generation of contemporary Māori musicians including Moana Maniapoto, Maaka Macgregor and Ruia Aperahama.
Matariki will be available in-stores and from digital retailers from Monday 30th May.
See Apanui live: Matariki Album Release Show -Te Papa, Thursday 16 June
New Dear Time’s Waste visual for “And So I Was Returning” shot by Special Problems.
